Volunteer Spotlight: Tony Wilks On Giving Back, Passion, and TangoTab

We had the pleasure of talking to one of our TangoTab community members, Tony Wilks, about his passion for giving back, his experiences using the TangoTab app, and highlights from his volunteer work with us at Feed The City events.

A big thank you to Tony for taking the time to share his TangoTab experiences with us, and for being an active part of our mission to end hunger!

Because of the kindness people in our community put forth to help others, we have collectively fed over 2.1 million people in need– and that number keeps growing.

Tony’s TangoTab Story

In February 2016, Wilks was at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in Dallas when he noticed news crews covering an event.

He asked what was going on, and learned that volunteers were coming together with TangoTab to set the Guinness World Record for Most People Making Sandwiches Simultaneously.

TangoTab broke the previous record that day and donated the meals made to tens of thousands of people in need locally. When Wilks got home, he decided to explore the TangoTab site and media to learn more about the company and its mission.

He says that he “quickly realized that yes, [TangoTab] is something that I need to be a part of.”

Volunteers working together at our world record Feed The City event in 2016.

Tony’s Passion For Helping Others

Wilks enthusiastically remarks that his “passion is children and making sure the needs of children are met in as many ways as I can.”

In fact, Wilks and his wife have worked for years to give back to others, and they even sponsor two children in Africa and El Salvador to make sure that their needs are met, that they can stay in school, and that they can have the opportunity for a good future.

At the time that Wilks and his wife first heard about TangoTab, it was important to them that they “start looking for other ways to give back, not just in areas outside of our country, but inside our country as well.”

Wilks reflects on his life and feels a strong desire to use his own blessings to help bless others.

He says, “I’ve been so blessed in my life– so many blessings– I wanted to take a big portion of my time and money and make sure that I was giving back to the community that I am living in, the country that I am living in, and people all around the world.”

For Wilks and his wife– two people who are actively giving back with time and money to help others in a variety of ways–TangoTab “fits right in, just in a different way. TangoTab doubles up our efforts.”

Wilks explains this further: “The TangoTab app is amazing. I got very excited because I didn’t have to change anything I was doing.”

On Prioritizing Your Passions

Wilks also has some inspirational words for others who have identified their passions, and he certainly lives by example.

He says, “Whatever you make a priority, you make time for. My passion is my priority, it’s what comes first.”

Ever since he was a child, Wilks has wanted to help positively impact the lives of kids, and has big dreams about how to do that.

Along the way, as he raised his own children and built his career, Wilks realized something important.

He remarks, “You don’t have have to start with the big dream. If you can’t afford the big dream, or you can’t afford the time it takes for the big dream, you can start today with a piece of that big dream.”

Wilks helps load up sandwiches to go to a local food pantry. We love how much he smiles!

Why Tony Likes To Give Back With The TangoTab App

For Wilks, “the best thing about the TangoTab app is being able to give back without changing your habits.”

Wilks loved learning that with the TangoTab app he “could actually give back in the middle of the day without extra effort. What excited me the most was that I could share it with a few like-minded friends and watch the numbers of my personal use and my friends’ use build up really fast.”

To date, Wilkes and his friends have collectively helped feed over 8,000 people in need, just from dining out at partner restaurants and using the TangoTab appto check-in.

Wilkes also adds, “I love when I can give back without having to give extra time or extra money.”

Tony’s Advice For New App Users

Wilks has a few great pieces of advice for new TangoTab app users based off of his own experiences!

First, Wilks suggests that users consciously understand that when they dine out, they really are making it possible for someone else who needs a meal to get one.

He says, “I drilled it into my head: When I eat, they eat, and after about 30 days, I didn’t have to think about it. It was, ‘Boom! I’m going to TangoTab it.'”

Wilks asks new users to “paint yourself a picture, you’re not just clicking a button, you’re feeding someone in need. The money is actually going to local food banks.”

Lastly, Wilks always recommends to friends and strangers alike that they put the TangoTab app on their phone’s home screen when they first download it.

Wilks says that this reminds people to “just think about it. You have the opportunity without doing anything extra, without spending any extra money, to just do what you’re already doing” and help fight hunger locally at the same time.

Involvement In Feed The City Events

Since Wilks first learned about TangoTab, he has become more and more involved in fighting hunger with us by becoming a regular presence at our DFW Feed The City events.

Wilks gathering bread to take to volunteers making sandwiches at a Feed The City event.

When Joanna DeRose began hosting Feed The City events in Mesquite, Wilks, a Mesquite native, offered her a helping hand from the very start.

On the events in Mesquite, Wilks says, “We invited community action groups who were already doing things in the community. We built bridges between the community action groups, and we strengthened relationships. Now groups that used to work separately in the same city are working together in the same city! Instead of us having four or five individual community action groups, we have a big giant family.”

He concludes, “It was TangoTab’s Feed The City that really created those bridges, the community action groups had never taken the steps to come together and merge forces. It was pretty awesome to be a small part of creating something bigger than what it was before.”

Final Thoughts On Uniting As A Community

When Wilks thinks about the community of people using the TangoTab app and attending the Feed The City events, he says its “really interesting” because there are “people who couldn’t be any more contrasting in where they’re from and what they look like coming together with a common goal of helping people in need.”

Wilks smiling alongside other volunteers at a Feed The City event.

The shared mission of ending hunger locally can unite us and have a lasting positive impact on our communities and the people in them.

Joanna DeRose had similar comments when asked about the community of people who come to Feed The City events. She says, “I love seeing people of different ages, races, and political backgrounds coming together in one room and being united.”

Unite with us in the fight to end hunger! Download the app and view our Feed The City event schedules here.

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